What is the ruling when manumission is conditioned upon the divorce of wives using the cumulative word 'kullama' (every time)?
Chapter on Explicit Divorce and Others
Al-Mughni
Book of Divorce
Primary text
If a man conditions the manumission of his slaves upon the divorce of his four wives, stating 'If one of you is divorced, one slave is free; if two are divorced, two slaves are free... and if four are divorced, four slaves are free,' and he divorces all four, whether simultaneously or separately, ten slaves are freed: one for the first, two for the second two, three for the third three, and four for the four. If he uses the word 'kullama' (every time), there are differing scholarly opinions regarding the total number freed. The sounder opinion states fifteen slaves are freed, accounting for the four distinct conditions individually, and the combinations of two, three, and four wives divorced simultaneously, totaling 4 + 4 + 4 + 3 = 15. This is preferred because the word 'kullama' necessitates repetition corresponding to the repeated conditions.
Supporting text
One opinion states ten slaves are freed. Another states fifteen slaves are freed based on a detailed breakdown of how cumulative conditions are counted across the sequence of events. A third opinion suggests seventeen slaves are freed because the condition of two divorced wives is counted multiple times. A fourth opinion, attributed to Abu Hanifa, suggests twenty slaves are freed, arguing that a subsequent combination (like the second and third wives divorced combined with the fourth) creates a new instance of the three-divorce condition. These latter views are considered flawed because they count the same combination element in multiple distinct criteria.